Author-Amrut Mangaraj
Breakfast, being the first meal of the day after an overnight fast, is long debated as the most important meal of the day. It has a healthy reputation in all public opinion. The claims suggesting its importance in a healthy lifestyle are plenty. But research might not suggest it is a factor that really keeps you healthy and lean.
The main picture
Officially many organizational debates recommend the importance of breakfast consumption in aid of weight loss. In some studies, it has been explicitly confined not to skip breakfast. Skipping breakfast has been also debated as a risk factor for type 2 diabetes and increased all-cause mortality.
Conversely, amid all this hype, data from recent randomized controlled trials have found no benefit in relating breakfast to weight loss. Strictly mentioning negative relation on the effect of the first meal of the day and weight control.
Mechanism of breakfast and fat loss
Overall, skipping the first meal of the day has been seen to lower body weight, as compared to eating. This has resembled consuming breakfast over an average of 7 weeks max. Although, these results weren't affected by the duration of the trials, or the BMI levels.
Consistent with the results of weight loss, consuming breakfast on the contrary has been seen to statistically increase the total energy intake among individuals. This is noted to be approximately more or less than 260 calories, depending on the individual. Amongst all studies taken into consideration, just one gave the opposite outcome.
Therefore it would be wise to point out that, no major differences are sought out among breakfast eaters and skippers on the degree of weight/fat loss and maintenance.
Why the hype?
The main argument in favour of consuming breakfast is a suggestion that it subsequently reduces the overall food intake during the day. This has been seen in one study. When you intake a large amount of food in the 1st meal, your body tends to feel satiety in favour of the next 8 hours. Therefore it gives room for lesser calories in the rest of the day period.
But all the data collected pointed out just the opposite. Consuming a heavy breakfast might not lead to lowering food intake during the day, rather can add more energy to your daily diet. Among 6 of the 9 trials mentioned more calorie intake of individuals has been seen.
Accordingly, many have observed that the number of calories being consumed for breakfast has been positively correlated with overall daily calorie intake. One such study has been taken into consideration.
Due to this eating breakfast doesn't necessarily intervene in a calorie deficit process termed weight/fat loss.
Major Takeaway
Unless your total calorie intake per day is managed, there's no way you can expect a reduction in weight/fat loss by just focusing on one meal. Eating a heavy breakfast might give you lesser room to eat fewer calories per day, but the opposite is seen in major studies. People tend to eat much more during breakfast, and add subsequent calories throughout the day.
One must take into consideration that besides weight loss, breakfast has other positive impacts on metabolic parameters. Insulin sensitivity is one such factor. So for overall health one can rely on the benefits of breakfast, but definitely not for fat/weight loss.
Specifically, a breakfast meal rich in protein and fat, with low carbohydrates can increase satiety, and reduce overall calorie intake throughout the day.
References
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Uzhova, I., Fuster, V., Fernández-Ortiz, A., Ordovás, J. M., Sanz, J., Fernández-Friera, L., López-Melgar, B., Mendiguren, J. M., Ibáñez, B., Bueno, H., & Peñalvo, J. L. (2017). The Importance of Breakfast in Atherosclerosis Disease: Insights From the PESA Study. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 70 (15), 1833–1842. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2017.08.027
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Bi, H., Gan, Y., Yang, C., Chen, Y., Tong, X., & Lu, Z. (2015). Breakfast skipping and the risk of type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis of observational studies. Public health nutrition, 18 (16), 3013–3019. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980015000257
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Sievert, K., Hussain, S. M., Page, M. J., Wang, Y., Hughes, H. J., Malek, M., & Cicuttini, F. M. (2019). Effect of breakfast on weight and energy intake: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 364 , l42. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l42
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Sievert, K., Hussain, S. M., Page, M. J., Wang, Y., Hughes, H. J., Malek, M., & Cicuttini, F. M. (2019). Effect of breakfast on weight and energy intake: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 364 , l42. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l42
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Uzhova, I., Fuster, V., Fernández-Ortiz, A., Ordovás, J. M., Sanz, J., Fernández-Friera, L., López-Melgar, B., Mendiguren, J. M., Ibáñez, B., Bueno, H., & Peñalvo, J. L. (2017). The Importance of Breakfast in Atherosclerosis Disease: Insights From the PESA Study. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 70 (15), 1833–1842. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2017.08.027
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Sievert, K., Hussain, S. M., Page, M. J., Wang, Y., Hughes, H. J., Malek, M., & Cicuttini, F. M. (2019). Effect of breakfast on weight and energy intake: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 364 , l42. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l42
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Schusdziarra, V., Hausmann, M., Wittke, C., Mittermeier, J., Kellner, M., Naumann, A., Wagenpfeil, S., & Erdmann, J. (2011). Impact of breakfast on daily energy intake--an analysis of absolute versus relative breakfast calories. Nutrition journal, 10 , 5. https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2891-10-5
